A closer look at forgiveness

This is how one person described his bitterness toward those who hurt him. Perhaps you’ve been hurt badly enough to feel like your heart has been poisoned.

Perhaps you know someone who is struggling with this kind of painful experience. What do you do with a heart filled with hurt and resentment?

How can we protect our hearts from the poison?

The answer is forgiveness. But this is where many stumble. They know that they need to forgive but feel stuck in bitterness. It seems so much easier for others to tell them to choose forgiveness than for them to forgive.

I believe that many people struggle with forgiveness because they do not know what forgiveness involves. If forgiveness means swallowing hard and letting your offender off the hook or just pretending the offense never occurred, it’s not surprising…